WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE (WPL) 2026 mega auction is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on 27 November, following the release of the WPL retention list earlier this month.
Each franchise will be permitted to assemble a squad of up to 18 players, with 73 slots including 23 overseas positions available across the five teams. Overall, 17 players including seven overseas cricketers have been retained across the five teams. The franchises will share a combined purse of Rs 41.1 crore for the 2026 auction.
UP Warriorz face the biggest rebuilding task, having retained only one player, uncapped Shweta Sehrawat. They will enter the auction with the largest purse as well as four Right To Match (RTM) options.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians, led by India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, and three-time runners–up Delhi Capitals, who have held on to Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues, have retained five players each. Neither side will have RTM options at the auction.
Across the league’s three seasons, the WPL has witnessed several headline-grabbing bids. Smriti Mandhana remains the most expensive player in tournament history, after Royal Challengers Bengaluru spent Rs 3.4 crore on the India batter at the 2023 mega auction. Mandhana, who captained RCB to the 2024 title, is among the four players retained by the franchise ahead of WPL 2026.
Deepti Sharma, player of the tournament at the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, is expected to headline a star-studded auction pool likely to include South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, Australia’s Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning, New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr, and South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk, among others. The complete list of auction-eligible players will be released by the WPL in due course.
